Vidyut Board to recruit 400 meter readers

NEW DELHI, July 17: The Delhi Vidyut Board will recruit over 400 meter readers to take down readings, accept payments and issue receipts ...

NEW DELHI, July 17: The Delhi Vidyut Board will recruit over 400 meter readers to take down readings, accept payments and issue receipts to consumers at their houses.

Announcing this today, Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma said that the readers would be recruited on a contractual basis for an initial period of three months after which their performance would be assessed. The CM admitted that DVB does not have sufficient meter readers. He said that the target was to check over 22 lakh connections, with each reader checking 40 meters a day.

He also said that the DVB would be spending over Rs 40 crore by September to upgrade the distribution system. “Among the improvements being considered are the installation of 400 MVR shunt capacitors.”

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The DVB would also introduce a scheme under which its employees would be given incentives to report instances of power theft. “Even a promotion could be offered as reward.” A similar scheme for the general public would also be introduced where they would be awarded upto 1 per cent of the total theft amount recovered. The CM added that 52 transformers would be installed in unauthorised colonies. “The existing transformers were of only 100 KW capacity, but with the growth of these colonies we have to upgrade the capacity because the load has increased.”

Speaking about the Bawana project, he said that the Bilt industries in collaboration with an American company had offered a bid of Rs 2 crore per MW for the Bawana Phase II project. “Since they are offering such a low bid we are trying to negotiate with Reliance to bring down the price of the Phase I project from 3.07 crore per MW to 2 crore per MW.”